Report: Leath Used Second ISU Plane for March Madness, Celebrity Bowhunter Trips

The AP’s Ryan Foley is out with another scoop today building on his report that Iowa State University President Steven Leath used a state-owned airplane for personal use in potential violation of university policy and state law: Using the university’s other plane, which Leath isn’t certified to fly, pilots flew his family members to an NCAA tournament basketball game and Leath himself on four separate excursions with celebrity bowhunter John Dudley, costing the university-affiliated Iowa State University Foundation thousands of dollars.

The report raises additional questions about ISU’s lack of transparency and conflicting accounts justifying the behavior of ISU’s president, who had already been facing ethical questions regarding his purchase of private land from his boss, Board of Regents President Steven Leath, in possible violation of conflict-of-interest rules; and the university’s hiring of employees including two former state GOP lawmakers without a search process.

Gavin Aronsen is an editor and reporter for and founding member of the Iowa Informer. He previously worked as a city reporter for the Ames Tribune, research assistant to investigative journalist Wayne Barrett at the Village Voice, and in various roles at Mother Jones, where his work contributed to a National Magazine Award nomination for the magazine's digital media coverage of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Email: garonsen [at] iowainformer [dot] com.